Searching for Brother
by That One Piece Fangirl
Summary: Arthur Kirkland and his brothers Alistair, Seamus, Rory, Dylan and his half-brother Matthew are all depressed by the loss of their younger brother Alfred. When Arthur becomes daring enough to search for him after 6 years, Alistair tags along as they begin their perilous journey to find Alfred. Is he even alive? What's worse, will they escape the clutches of the mythical Wendigo?


Searching for Brother

The night my brother disappeared was a cold one. I was fast asleep when my younger brother, Alfred, had gotten up and left the house for some unknown reason. He had supposedly run off into the woods; the whole village had searched for a year and a half and had found very little clues as to where he went. All we had left of him were a few pictures he'd drawn of us and even then, some of them simply, disappeared. That was over 4 years ago however, and my brother had been long since forgotten. What gets me though, is that my younger brother was a very careful boy and was very afraid of the dark; he would never run off into the woods at night, especially when he knew about the Wendigo.

The Wendigo was a creature of myth and legend to most but to our village, he was very much alive. Every few years or so, we would hear of sightings from the other villagers, saying that it was a creature of half deer and man. Every day our people would refuse to hunt and our supply of meat ran low. But now that I was a young man of 18, I was allowed to hunt with the other men. I grabbed my bow and cloak, putting it on before heading outside. One of the other villagers, Yao, walked over, "Arthur, are you planning to hunt today?"

I nodded, "Yes, I will try my hardest to find at least _something _for the village to eat." And with that, I set off towards the forest in search of game. Keeping out a sharp eye, I quietly padded through the forest floor, looking around for any sign that there were any birds or deer around as I kept my bow tight and ready. Suddenly, there was a shuffle of movement and a deer came out from behind a tree. Aiming the bow and arrow at the deer, I got ready to let go, when it ran off, probably smelling my scent in the air.

I sighed, this was getting rather annoying. I continued on my journey anyways and soon came to a small cave. Hoping that there was no animal in there, I set my bow down and covered it with dead leaves and moss. I padded into the damp, dark cave silently and looked at my surroundings. Suddenly, there was a shuffling in the back of the cave. I was startled, but when I got a closer look, there was a figure huddled in the corner. Gently reaching out, I touched the huddled figure. Although to my surprise, it wasn't even human like. I reeled back my hand in fear and stuttered, "What-what are y-you?!"

This… this _thing_ turned around and looked me in the eye with its own beady black eyes. This was _him. _This was the Wendigo. I yelped and jumped back, startled as its true height when it stood up, his antlers just barely grazing the high ceiling. I scrambled back out to the entrance and grabbed my bow, running off back towards the village. "The Wendigo! I saw it! I saw the Wendigo!" I screamed as I entered the edge of the village. The older villagers stopped working and the women hustled the children inside.

The men, however, came over to me, "What did you see Arthur? What'd it look like?" They asked me. I sighed, trying to calm down my nerves. When they did, I replied, "The Wendigo; he was horrid. He had antlers of a deer but the body of a human…" After explaining everything to the other men in the village, I went back to my house and was greeted by my older brothers Seamus, Alistair, Rory, and Dylan and my younger half-brother Matthew. Alistair, the oldest at age 22, grinned around his cigarette, "Oi! Do ye know anyone by the name 'Francis'? Lad came lookin' for ye a little while ago." Matthew, only 6 years old, stopped playing with his polar bear stuffed animal and ran over to me, giving me a giant hug.

Ignoring my older brothers, I smiled and hugged Matthew back before turning to Alistair, "Yes, why; did something happen?" Seamus and Rory, the twins 20 years old, looked at each other then said at the same time, "Yeah, he said they might have a new lead on where Alfred went." Forgetting about the whole encounter with the Wendigo, I gasped, "You mean we might find him?" Dylan, 19, shrugged, "Maybe but, he _has _to havebeen living on his own for about 6 or 7 years in the woods now." I thought for a moment, "But in this cold air of Canada, how could he have survived?"

Alistair frowned, "Francis said we might have a new lead, he never said the American lad would be alive." Angry, I threw a pillow at his face, "Don't get my hopes up like that and then bring them down! I'm absolutely positive Alfred is still alive!" I shouted. With that, I ran to my room and slammed my door, tossed my bow, arrows and cape on the floor, and jumped onto my bed in a crying heap. "A-Al can't be dead… right? H-he he can ta-take care of himself…" I tried to reassure myself but the tears kept coming; it was no use. How could a child at the age of 5 keep himself alive for 6 years in the wilderness?

That night, I skipped out on dinner and stayed in my room, trying to figure out what to do. I knew that I couldn't tell my older brothers about what happened and what I was going to do or they would call me crazy; and I couldn't tell my younger brother Matthew or he would beg to come with me or worse, leave without me. When I was sure everyone was asleep, I grabbed my bow and quiver, my green cloak, a couple pieces of bread and cheese, and a map. Checking if I had everything, I left my house and then the village, walking into the dark forest that loomed overhead.

However, before I could continue my journey, I was stopped by a large hand on my shoulder. I slowly turned around, speechless and scared when I saw it was Alistair, my oldest brother. He just grinned, "Now where do ye think yer goin' lad?" Nervous, I stuttered, "Um, I I'm going to look for Alfred?" Alistair smiled widely like when a cat is about to eat a mouse, "Not without me yer not!" I was surprised, "But, what about-" He cut me off, "Don't worry lad; I told yer brothers to take care o' little Mattie for us while we're gone. Now, let's go find ourselves a brother!" Without another word, he ran into the forest, leaving me to catch up behind him.

After I caught up with him, we weaved in between the trees of the forest to the cave I had discovered earlier. Suddenly nervous, I turned to Alistair, "Alistair, there's something I forgot to tell you… Last time I was here, I- I met the Wendigo…." Alistair quickly turned towards me, "Why didn't you tell me this before lad?! If he's here now, we might not be able to take him on!" I shrugged off his hands, "Well sorry for getting lost in the excitement that my brother might still be _alive_!" Before we entered the cave, I turned to my brother and pressed a finger to my lips before slowly drawing my bow. When Alistair got the message, he heaved his sword up in front of him, ready to fight. I walked in slowly with my bow ready to shoot. However, when Alistair and I reached the back of the cave, there was no sign of life at all. Just as we were about to leave I stepped on something, causing the whole ground to shake.

Suddenly, the floor dropped out from underneath us as we fell into the black abyss. When I could see again, I looked around for my brother, finding him a few feet away from me. "Arthur, are you all right lad?" Alistair called out to me. I nodded and got up, "Yes, are you?" Alistair just got up and brushed himself off, "Where are we?" I looked around curiously and frowned, "Some… sort of tunnel, I think." I walked over to the wall and ran my hand along it; it felt like cold dirt, so it was most likely a tunnel.

As I turned to the side, I saw a small light at the end of it. I turned to my brother, "Hey Alistair, I think there's a light up ahead, come on." I headed toward the light and held my bow up and ready. However, before I could even reach the end, I heard a small child crying… and it sounded like Alfred! Could it be, my younger brother? Had I finally found him? As I was flooded with these questions, I felt Alistair come up behind me, "Alistair… it's him; I can hear Alfred!" When Alistair leaned over my shoulder to look at what I saw, he gasped and pulled me away from the edge.

I angrily turned to him, "Alistair, what's wrong with you!? Can't you see our baby brother needs us?! Let me go!" I yelled in my older brother's face, beginning to cry, fearing my other brother's fate. Alistair just grabbed my shoulders tightly and hoisted me up to look into his intense green eyes, "Open your eyes boy! That's no brother of ours! Only a she-demon of the Underworld!" As I looked again, the image of my younger brother, Alfred, flickered and disappeared. I sobbed, "But… We'll never find him will we…?!" I continued crying as I remembered my baby brother and everything about him, from his "hero smile" as he liked to call it to his obnoxious laugh.

Finally, after about an hour, I gathered myself together and stopped crying and getting up. Alistair and I walked in silence as we headed in the opposite direction from the light. However, when we reached the other end of the tunnel, it was only a dead- end. I was about to turn back when Alistair caught my wrist and yanked me back to the wall, my ear pressed against it. From there, I could hear a small child crying. I turned to Alistair and frowned, "You really think it's him?" He only nodded as a response and began to dig away at the crumbling dirt wall. Soon after, I joined him as we hastily began to dig away.

When there was a hole big enough for my hand to reach through, I looked inside and shouted, "Alfred? Alfred, brother are you in there!?" Suddenly, there was a crash and I heard rustling before something overshadowed the hole, "Wh-who's there?" I smiled, happy tears coming to my eyes, "Alfred! Alfred, it's me, your older brother Arthur! Alistair is here too! We're coming to get you!" I yelled, tearing away at the dirt wall. There was silence before I heard shuffling again and suddenly the wall began to crumble and I backed away, letting the boy come out. When I looked at him, however, I had to look _up_.

Alfred had grown quite tall, although that was expected from not seeing him for over 6 years. I smiled bright and tackled the young man my brother had become into a hug. I looked up at him teary eyed, "Alfred, have you been here the whole time?" Alfred nodded, "I didn't really remember any of you guys but I only remembered who you guys were because of these." He said as he held up a few drawings from his childhood. I smiled, so they really _weren't _lost. I grabbed my bow and fixated it over my shoulder, "Alright, we better leave and head back home."

With that, I headed off back to the other end of the tunnel, Alfred close behind and Alistair at the back. When we got back to the cavern where the she-demons were, it was abandoned. I shrugged it off and looked on either side for the ledge to lead us out. Once I found it, I motioned for my brothers to come over. Before I could start inching along the wall that towered over the dark cavern around us however, Alistair pulled me back. I looked up to him, "What did you do that for?!" Alistair just rolled his eyes, "Checking to see if it's safe for us. I want you at the back so that if something attacks, I could get it or Alfred could kill it with his super-strength."

Ah, yes I had forgotten about Alfred's superhuman strength. I nodded and adjusted the bow, inching along the wall after my brothers. Suddenly, I could see a light up ahead and grinned, my brother's and I were going to make it out alive! I waited for my brothers to step on the platform of rock before I made a leap for it myself. However, I had misjudged the distance and slipped off the edge of the platform. When I thought I had fallen into the black abyss below, I looked up and saw Alfred, who had grabbed my wrist and was struggling to keep me from falling.

As he started to pull me up, there came a loud, booming screech that echoed in all of our ears. When I turned to look at what had made that horrible noise, it was only one thing: The Wendigo himself; and he was mighty fast, hopping along the narrow edges of the rocky walls. I looked back at my brothers and yelled, "Alfred, let me go! Save yourselves!" Alfred shook his head vigorously, "No! I'm not leaving you; you're my brother! Not when we've just reunited!" I could see tears start to form in his cerulean blue eyes.

Feeling tears prick my own emerald eyes, I smiled shook my head, "I've gone through so much to find you Alfred… The least you could do is this one thing for me… Please Alfred; I want you to live on, raise your own family and meet new people, just, do this one thing for me…" I looked over at Alistair who nodded and began to pull Alfred's hand away from my wrist. When he finally did, I felt myself free-fall away from them into the black abyss of nothingness as I heard my brother's screams.

_I… I hope you get away safely. Please, live a happy life for me Alfred… _I thought as I continued to fall into nothingness.

Suddenly, everything was black; I tried to open my eyes but I was too weak. I could faintly hear a beeping and there were soft bed sheets enveloping me. I gently fisted the sheet and slowly opened my eyes. At first everything was a bright white, until my eyes adjusted. I seemed to be in a hospital room. Suddenly there were loud shouts outside the door. I waited patiently until a nurse came in to check something, "Excuse me miss, could you possibly tell me where I am?" The young woman jumped and looked up, "Mr. Kirkland; you're awake!" she exclaimed. I nodded stiffly. She just smiled, "Don't worry dear; I'll go get the doctor." With that she left the room.

I sighed and smiled, glad that it was all a dream. Soon the doctor came in and explained everything before exiting the room to retrieve my brothers. Giddy with excitement like a child on Christmas, I grinned and held my breath when the door handle jiggled and watched as my brothers poured in. One by one, they each had a smile plastered onto their face when they saw me awake. Alfred grinned, "ARTIE!" He yelled as he took me into a bone crushing hug. I smiled but managed to force the American off of me. Matthew just smiled and welcomed me back to consciousness whereas the twins had taken both sides of me and grabbed onto my arms and hugging them tightly, Alistair and Dylan standing at the foot of my bed. Alistair grinned, "Oi, little brother, nice to know you're awake; it's been 6 years since you have been awake!"

I nodded, relieved that I was away from that nightmare. For the rest of the day, my brothers caught me up on what had happened in their lives while I was out for those long antagonizing 6 years.

"_Remember, Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies."- Stephen King_

**Backstory**

Arthur Kirkland (England) has multiple brothers named Alistair (Scotland) who is the oldest, then the twins Seamus and Rory (Ireland and Northern Ireland), and Dylan (Wales) being only a few years older than himself. Arthur also has younger half-brothers named Alfred and Matthew (America and Canada), Alfred a little too curious for everyone's liking. When Arthur and his brothers head into town in their vehicle, Dylan, who was driving, and Alistair, who was behind him, got into a fight. Dylan lost control of the car, however, and crashed it. Everyone made it out with minor injuries except for Arthur because the car had crashed into an oncoming car on his side. He had received a broken leg and had passed out on contact. When Arthur had been first brought to the hospital, he was near death; but each day he began to show signs of surviving. He remained in a coma for 6 years, for the doctors had feared to cut off his lifeline, thus possibly killing him. It takes place in Northern Canada, the reason for the Wendigo, a mythical monster that inhabits there. When Arthur has the dream, it is only his brain responding to his fears of dying, which gives him hope to survive.


End file.
